LAMBORGHINI HURACAN STO

Rear-driven atmo V10 is given track focus

- MIKE DUFF

PLENTY OF LAMBORGHINIS have proved their ability to perform on track. Indeed, both the Huracá n Performante and the Aventador SVJ are previous holders of the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record for a production car.

But the Huracá n STO marks a new direction for the supercar maker, as the first derivative that Lamborghini has designed around a brief of regular circuit use. It’s targeting the same part of the market as the McLaren 765LT and Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series.

STO stands for Super Trofeo Omolagata (Italian for homologation), as a fair amount of its go-faster technology is drawn from the car used in the Super Trofeo one-make racing series.

The STO isn’t as fast around a circuit as its slick-shod sister, but our first drive on the Vallelunga track near Rome proved that it’s almost certainly more fun on track.

The STO’s engine is probably the least changed thing about it. This is Lamborghini’s long-serving naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V10, making the same 470kW peak power that it did in the Huracá n Performante – that figure obviously some way adrift of its turbocharged rivals.

It can’t match them on torque, either, with the peak of 565Nm arriving at a high 6500rpm. But it revs to a sonorous 8500rpm and delivers urge to the back axle through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.